Citizens of Belarus will be exempted from time-limit visas into Vietnam as from July 1, 2015.

Under a resolution just issued by the government, visitors from Belarus are allowed to enter and stay in Vietnam for up to 15 days without visas regardless of passport types and purpose of visit.

The policy will be effective for five years from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2020.

Currently, Vietnam unilaterally exempts visas for citizens of Japan, the Republic of Korea, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Russia. It bilaterally grants 30-day exemptions for citizens from nine out of the 10 ASEAN member states.

PM meets Vietnamese businesses in EAEU’s member states

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged Vietnamese businesses operating in member states of the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) to forge close connections with firms at the homeland, aiming to form product distribution systems and reduce risks in payment.

During his meeting with Vietnamese businesses in the EAEU’s member nations on May 30 on the occasion of the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the EAEU in Kazakhstan, the PM asked Vietnamese ministries and sectors to develop banking services to improve payment between Vietnam and EAEU members.

He said while the FTA marks an important step forward in the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and EAEU member countries, the pact’s signing is just the first step. The PM called for joint efforts from the Government, Vietnam’s representative agencies and Vietnamese business communities both at home and abroad in order to take full advantage of the pact.

During his working tour in Kazakhstan from May 29-30, PM Dung attended the signing ceremony of the Vietnam-EAEU FTA in northern Burabai town. He held meetings with his counterparts from EAEU’s five member countries, met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Chairman of the Board of the Eurasia Economic Commission Viktor Khristenko.

Later the same day, PM Dung and his entourage left Kazakhstan for Algeria for an official visit from May 31-June 2, at the invitation of his Algerian counterpart Abdelmalek Sellal.-

PM meets with leaders of Kazakh national oil group

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with leaders from the Kazakhstan National Oil and Gas Company (KazMunaiGaz), one of the leading businesses in Kazakhstan , in Astana capital on May 30.

The PM said he hopes KazMunaiGaz will further cooperation with the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) in exploring and exploiting oil and gas as well as promote joint projects providing technical services for these activities.

The two companies could consider collaboration projects in the respective countries or others, he suggested, adding that the Vietnamese Government pledges to create optimal conditions for Kazakh businesses to operate in Vietnam .

He also highlighted the free trade agreement recently signed between Vietnam and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU), which creates a foundation to push bilateral trade and investment links forward, including Vietnam and Kazakhstan .

Representatives from KazMunaiGaz said the company is willing to partner with PetroVietnam to explore and exploit oil and gas, and simultaneously push ahead with bilateral collaboration programmes in the coming time.

After the meeting, PM Nguyen Tan Dung witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement on the exploration, exploitation and provision of oil and gas services between PetroVietnam and KazMunaiGaz.

The same day, the Prime Minister met with staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnamese community in Kazakhstan.